The invention relates to a knitting machine needle with a shaft having a front or upper side and a back and said shaft having a recess open towards the front side, which recess receives at least partly a selection element provided with a controllable raising butt, the selection element being arranged rotatably or swivellably relative to the shaft in such a manner that said selection element can be swivelled into at least a first position, in which the raising butt (20) is retracted behind the front side and a second position in which the raising butt projects forwards over the front side.
Knitting machines for producing patterned knitwear are provided on their knitting systems with mechanically, electrically or electromagnetically operating selection devices which serve for the purpose of selecting individually knitting needles, which are guided in the grooves of a needle bed, for knitting, non-knitting or tuck operations and if necessary for producing transfer patterns (flat knitting machines). The selection devices operate thereby predominantly on jacks and other selection elements which are individually assigned to normal knitting machine needles, especially latch-type needles and as a rule are arranged beneath the needles but in the same grooves as the latter (DE 37 39 924 A1).
Selection devices of this type have proved their worth in numerous embodiments and operate perfectly as long as the selection in question is of knitting needles which are mounted displaceably in comparatively high needle beds such as in the needle cylinders of circular knitting machines, in the needle beds of flat knitting machines or the like, since there is adequate space in such needle beds underneath the knitting needles to accommodate the selection elements there which are useful for the needle selection. In conjunction with other needle beds, such as e.g. the dials of circular knitting machines, selection devices of this type are less well suited by contrast since dials or the like are provided with comparatively short grooves, as a design condition, and hence can frequently not receive any additional selection elements.
Thus, a special knitting machine needle of the type indicated at the beginning has become known already (U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,740, DE 40 07 253 C2, DE 43 38 800 A1), which has a swivellable selection element integrated in the needle shaft. The swivelling of these selection elements in accordance with the pattern is produced by firstly bringing all the selection elements into a pre-set swivel position with the help of a depressing cam part before the knitting needles enter into a knitting system and then leaving said selection elements in the area of a selection point lying behind the depressing cam part in this position in accordance with the pattern by means of electromagnetic or otherwise controlled means or transferring said selection elements into another position. A raising butt attached to the selection element is, according to the position of the selection element arranged either essentially in front of the front side or above the upper side of the knitting needle, so that said raising butt is engaged by a raising curve arranged behind the selection point and can be lifted together with the knitting needle, or essentially retracted behind the front or upper side of the knitting needle and into the recess so that it cannot be gripped by the raising curve, i.e. the knitting needle is not raised.
Knitting machine needles with integrated selection imply the special advantage that in the grooves of the needle beds there is no requirement for additional space or only very little for accommodation of the selection elements so that they are suitable especially as dial needles. Though, a problem exists in that two butts of the selection elements have to be operated always for swivelling according to a pattern and in fact either with hammer needles on one butt and with depressing cam parts on the other butt, respectively (DE 40 07 253 C2), or with a selection magnet each on both butts and an additional depressing cam part in a central area (DE 43 38 800 A1). As a result, either a certain susceptibility to faults in the selection device must be taken into account of a reduced operational speed of the knitting machine must be accepted in order to avoid pattern faults. In addition, several switching and control parts are required to produce one or the other position.